I’m not quite ready to put together a huge season-in-review post, but as a bit of a preview to that, here’s a list of things that we know now, but didn’t back in March:

Brandon Moss is not the answer in a corner outfield spot: Management was pulling hard for him after the Bay trade, and certainly gave Moss every opportunity to show what he could do, but a .236/.304/.364 line certainly isn’t going to cut it. The Pirates are set in LF and CF, and Garrett Jones can hold down RF while Clement plays first. If Jones moves to first, Moss might see some more time in 2010 until Jose Tabata gets here, but that’s why the Rick Ankiel rumors began to flame up.

The starting pitching depth is solid: Quite a contrast from last season, especially considering the two guys who were supposed to lead our staff, Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell, are now out of the picture. Next year’s rotation looks downright…dare I say it…good, with Ohlendorf and Duke at the front, Maholm and Morton in the middle, and Dan McCutchen in the 5th spot (with Karstens and Hart able to fill in when needed). Don’t forget Brad Lincoln, who might reach Pittsburgh late next summer, and Tim Alderson, a prized pitching prospect in AA. This is the one element of the team that I feel good about not only for the future, but next year in 2010.

The bullpen sucks: Joel Hanrahan was awesome at the end of the season, but after him….yikes. Jesse Chavez and Evan Meek (injured) were pretty good, but even they had their respective bumps in the road. We all know about Matt Capps. When your best left-handed reliever is a toss-up between Donnie Veal and Phil Dumatrait, and nobody ahead of Daniel Moskos is poised in the minors…that is not a good thing.

Andrew McCutchen is, indeed, a stud: Finally, someone living up to the hype. May he please not regress (much) or get hurt in future seasons. Same can be said for Pedro Alvarez, but of course only at the minor league level (so far).

The excellent 2008 draft was not a fluke: We weren’t thrilled about Tony Sanchez, but now I kind of am after the numbers he’s posted so far (thanks to his early sign). All the money spent later in the draft was reminiscent of last year as well, and both classes look like big winners early on.

We still don’t really know what we have in Andy LaRoche: Andy had quite the mysterious year. He improved remarkably on defense, started slow with the bat, built the numbers back to respectability, then slumped in the late summer, then had a torrid September to finish with a .258/.330/.401 line. Not good by any means, especially not for a 3b, but we’ve heard rumblings about him moving to second. He certainly will be playing somewhere at the start of next year — he’s essentially the only remaining hope for the Bay trade to look good, and he was decent enough to merit some AB’s in this lineup (not saying all that much).

Delwyn Young was a great bargain, but not the full-time answer at second: Another reason for Andy to move to the middle. DY’s defense was a liability (though it did improve) — and while he proved he could hit, he cooled off quite a bit at the end of the year, showing that he probably isn’t an everyday player. He’ll make a great utility guy or pinch-hitter, though.

It’s not all bad: Sure, it was losing season #17. We didn’t get Sano. 99 losses is pretty darn awful. The lineup won’t look much different on April 5 (181 days, btw) than it did on Sunday. But some good things did happen this year. As I mentioned above, Delwyn Young was had for a nobody prospect and one dollar. Garrett Jones was signed out of nowhere. The defense was amazingly good, and the pitching improved (credit goes to Perry Hill and Joe Kerrigan, respectively). The jury’s still out on most of the trades, but Lastings Milledge, Joel Hanrahan, Ronny Cedeno (kinda), and Charlie Morton (to an extent) have looked good, as have nearly all the prospects acquired in the deals. 2009 wasn’t much fun, but it wasn’t a waste.

Don't forget about Steven Jackson in the pen. He was the best guy out of the pen (besides Joel) the last few months of the season. I also think D McCutchen might pull next year what Ohlendorf did this year. He got better with every start.

Name

Don't forget about Steven Jackson in the pen. He was the best guy out of the pen (besides Joel) the last few months of the season. I also think D McCutchen might pull next year what Ohlendorf did this year. He got better with every start.

Name

Don't forget about Steven Jackson in the pen. He was the best guy out of the pen (besides Joel) the last few months of the season. I also think D McCutchen might pull next year what Ohlendorf did this year. He got better with every start.

Name

Don't forget about Steven Jackson in the pen. He was the best guy out of the pen (besides Joel) the last few months of the season. I also think D McCutchen might pull next year what Ohlendorf did this year. He got better with every start.